Harley's Arkham Journal
by The Purple Meanie
Summary: Following the failure of the Joker's failed April Fool's Day gag, Harley receives a journal in Arkham for her to write in. At first, Harley doesn't expect to write much in it, after all, nothing much had been happening in the asylum lately. But, as Arkham goes through changes with horrible consequences, the Rogues inside begin to uncover the shocking truth about the asylum.
1. Entry 1: April Fools

**4/1**

So, apparently, the docs here in Arkham have been handing around journals for us to write in while we're here? If this is supposed to be therapy, then how? We pour our hearts out and the docs will suddenly know how to "treat" us? Next thing ya know, they'll ask us all to make scrapbooks! It's funny how they think they'll "get" us one day and we'll walk outta here for good. It puts a smile on my face whenever someone, most of the time a newbie, makes another pathetic attempt to "reach out" and say that we've "still got a chance" and blah blah blah! I learned that's a load of crap a long time ago, so why more people won't throw the towel in, I'll never know.

I got this journal/diary just as soon as I got settled back into my cell. The doctor who gave this to me didn't say if anybody else was gonna actually read these, but I guess they'd look at them whenever a cell is empty; I just hope at the very least they're smart enough to check and see that nothing gets hidden inside them, like, any object that could be used for escaping... it would be better if they didn't check these at all, but at this point little tricks like hiding a tool somewhere doesn't fly by as easy as it used to, which is a darn shame!

On a side note: It's kinda hard to write in between the lines with a crayon. What if, years from now, I try to look back on this journal with fondness, only I won't be able to because it'll be so hard to make out what I've written! The staff took away our pencil/pen privileges after the third time somebody used one to escape. Mr. J wasn't the only one who knew all the ways a pencil could be used, let's just say that!

I don't know how many others got one of these, but I've got a feeling nobody will give their journal the time of day. If any of you who agreed to this _brilliant_ idea read this, you'll be happy to know that at least _one_ person, yours truly, will share her thoughts and feelings in this book; I don't care if you read this and object to anything I write because I don't care what _you_ think, if there's anything I don't want you to know, I won't write it down, plain and simple. I bet the journals were Dr. Cavendish or Dr. Adams's idea in the first place, this totally seems like something they'd think up.

Besides, writing will give me _something_ to do during my stays at Arkham, cause, oh my God did this place get boring; there's been a slow, but sure shift in Arkham from asylum to somewhere between a rehab center and a prison, and they've taken away most of the fun stuff for us to do. I don't think the higher-ups would actually rename this place Arkham Prison, but it won't be long before Arkham is a prison in all but name. Now I'm remembering that a former acquaintance of mine, a psychiatrist here named Joan Leland, once tried to warn me about how I didn't know what I was getting myself into associating myself with the people who have turned a well-meaning establishment into a parody of what it once was.

I remember that day very clearly when she said that to me: The first time the police and Batman caught me with Mr. J, the first time I became a patient at Arkham Asylum, and the first time someone other than Mr. J evaluated me. I remember she seemed so disappointed at how I turned out, and even now she must be blaming herself for letting me go near my puddin'. She said those words, probably trying to make me feel guilty and turn my life around before I got to a point of no return, but you know what I did? I just laughed at her.

But, that's enough of that; I can't forget to write about how Puddin' and I pulled our annual April Fool's Day gag on B-Man and the police... or, tried to, anyway. A couple days ago, Mr. J mentioned he heard about a beloved officer for the GCPD who was retiring. He found out where the guy lived and the two of us decided to drop by, say hello, and thank him for all his years of service. Sure enough, the geezer had family with him, and there were 10 or so of them in the house.

I used a little bit of Mr. J's laughing gas to knock most of them out, but not enough to give them a permanent smile (just so you know). Mr. J was gonna have the old man call the police and tell them we would blow up the place, and that Batman was the only one who would know how to defuse the bomb. The gag was supposed to be the police would come and surround the house, B-Man would show up, he'd barge inside and be a human shield for the cops who would rescue the hostages.

Mr. J and I would drop our rat-a-tat gun thingies and not put up much of a fight, but WAIT! There's still a bomb that's counting down to zero! B-Man would cut every wire, try everything he knew, but the bomb would still count down. B-Man would probably either take the bomb outside and valiantly try to find a place to get rid of it, or he would leave it where it was, dumbfounded.

And when the bomb hit zero...confetti sprays all over the place! Mr. J and I would laugh at the Bat and the police, and while they dragged us away we would see the Commissioner fuming with rage at how we could've killed a former cop who didn't deserve this for his retirement. But we never got even close to the punchline; somebody must've seen Puddin' and I sneaking around, and they alerted the police, so they got there before we could call them first. What _really_ made Mr. J mad was that Batman didn't even show up this time, and the Commissioner didn't look as rage-fueled as I hoped. Oh well, I guess it takes a lot more to faze Gordon these days.

So, Mr. J wasn't in the best of moods on the way to Arkham, but at least he didn't blame me for anything going wrong. We've definitely had better April Fool's Day gags than this year, but others failed even worse. To me, the funniest part about the gags is that B-Man and the cops treat them as seriously as anything else we do; Puddin' takes April Fool's Day very seriously, since it's also Opposite Day, nobody ever dies, and not as much property gets destroyed.

But since they're not gonna take any chances, the cops and Batman put as much effort into stopping us as any other day. We get such a kick that no one appreciates April Fool's like we do, and that's just fine with us, April Fool's Day is one day where we just wanna screw with people's heads and waste their time, we don't even mind inevitably being hauled away if the gag works. But, if the law decides not to take us seriously for once, maybe Mr. J will ignore the rules he sets up for himself on this day. I should definitely mention that to Puddin' next time I see him.

I just hope he's not too upset about this bust for long, but I probably won't see him for a while, anyway.


	2. Entry 2: Musing About Mr J and B-Man

**4/2**

Arkham ain't without its advantages: It's hard to find a secure place to live that's not too easy to find (that is, if you're GCPD), not to mention a place that always has a hot shower on standby. To get food, Mr. J and I either stop a person who's carrying groceries and rob them, or we sneak into the worst neighborhoods and demand that they give us what we need; the people themselves almost never call for help, because they're not idiots and know we could find them and do funny things to them if we're scorned. So, it's not always bad when we get hauled back here, especially during the times when we're down on our luck. At Arkham, we get food, water, bathrooms, a place to sleep ... even if those things aren't of the highest quality.

Still, I think it's so much more romantic to have to work hard to get by, because it brings Puddin' and me closer together. Yes, I'm the one who gets the food and stuff most of the time, but Mr. J can't just walk around the streets! It doesn't matter what time of day it is, it's not easy for him to go anywhere without being spotted. I can disguise myself pretty well; in fact, I think disguising is one of my under-appreciated talents, if I do say so myself. But Puddin's beautiful chalk-white skin ... not so easy to hide.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that things are best when it's just Puddin' and me. The worst part about being in Arkham is that I almost never see him, and when I do it's usually by accident. When one of us makes an attempt to escape, the other either has to improvise and try to catch up, or wait for the next opportunity. I usually wait for Mr. J to try and break out first (his plans for escape have a higher chance of succeeding than mine do).

Back when I was just starting, they let us be together very often; we didn't share a cell or anything, but Mr. J had a worse temper in those days. I used to hate these couple's counseling sessions the doctors used to do, because I didn't want those stuffy quacks trying to fix our relationship (or trying to get us to split up for good) when in reality they knew nothing about either of us. Now? I miss those sessions because at least I got to actually be with him. Still, it's not like we _need_ those sessions anyway, because our relationship has been better than ever; Mr. J has never been so sweet, honest, and faithful to me in all my years with him. It's like they say: "It just gets better all the time!" or something like that.

If only I could convince everybody else (Batman, the doctors, my friends) that that's true. Especially my very best friend Poison "Red" Ivy. I'm so glad to have someone else who's looking out for me, but the days when Mr. J took his anger out on me are all but gone. Sure, Mr. J still gets angry, like last night, but don't we all? Sooner or later some of them will accept our relationship. On another note, while thinking about yesterday's bust, I've figured out that Mr. J may have realized the key to ending B-Man once and for all, and that's why he's so upbeat; and I'm sure I'm right, because unlike literally everyone else on the planet, I actually know how he works.

I think it started when B-Man joined that Justice League group a while back. He's a lot more busy than usual, (not even mentioning the big, save-the-world days) but he just can't stay away from Gotham forever, so he always comes back, and Puddin' and I are always ready to welcome him home. The thing is, Mr. J has planned these schemes that are intentionally not as grandiose as usual. Of course, B-Man, his sidekicks, and the police always make a bigger deal out of them then they have to, so they put the same amount of effort into stopping us no matter what we're doing.

Why didn't I notice this before? Now I look back on the previous months and see the subtle changes in Batman. Cowl or no cowl, it doesn't take a genius to see that the usual baggage of trying to save Gotham and now the added weight of the whole world on his shoulders is wearing him down; after all, isn't he just a man? Batman is on equal foot with the other Justice Leaguers, and everyone _loves_ him for not having any superpowers. Now, I can hear more frustration in his voice as it dawns on him every time he hunts us that now he's got entire worlds depending on him, and who he thought was the biggest thorn in his side is now wasting his time on things the regular cops can handle.

Maybe I'm reading too much into some things, but I can't deny that Mr. J is changing his game, and B-Man is responding to it. I can see why Mr. J would step down a notch or two; what Mr. J could do like no other was really get down into Batman's skin, going after people like the second Robin and Commissioner Gordon... but no matter how personal it got, B-Man always bounded back. If we hurt him real bad, he healed faster. He's always got someone or something that keeps him going strong, and now he's got a whole other team that's got his back.

At some point, Mr. J must've realized that one bad day doesn't have to change someone forever. Sometimes, it takes a long string of seemingly little things that build up over time, until you can't take it anymore, to break you. Maybe, when Batman is at his breaking point, we'll go in for the killing joke (ha ha).

What would come afterwards, I don't know, and Mr. J probably doesn't know either. But for the first time, a bright future where Mr. J and I are gonna live the rest of our lives together happily seems almost a sure-fire thing.


	3. Entry 3: Something's Wrong

**4/6**

There's not a whole lot to write about; so, to entertain myself, I'll write down a bunch of stuff that serves no other purpose than to fill up the pages in greater detail than I have to. Does that sound good to any of you reading this? I hope you don't bore easily, but when you read things from a patient's point of view, maybe you'll make some changes to benefit everyone here. I'm just kidding, nothing ever changes in Arkham _or_ Gotham and you guys know it!

I wonder if anyone's actually reading the journals, I haven't heard anyone mention them since I got mine. It wouldn't surprise me if they dropped the whole idea of the journals; lots of ideas for treatments get brought up and quickly forgotten about. Whatever, it doesn't matter to me who reads this and who doesn't. So, what to write about? How about more pity for my Puddin'? Sounds good to me, people could use more pity for all of us here in the madhouse.

Poor Mr. J! He's almost always locked in his cell, not allowed to mingle with any other patient no matter who they are. No longer can he walk with sort-of freedom in the cafeteria or the rec room and certainly no talking to me. It's _so_ not fair how many places I can go while he can hardly go anywhere at all! Lots of days, I would love nothing more than to bash all the staff's brains out in protest, but I hold myself back. I don't think I could handle solitary confinement as well as Mr. J can, so I will behave to a point so I can move around and talk to my friends.

I almost get a kind of a special treatment here for some reason. I guess the psychiatrists see me as some kind of social butterfly, so I get to visit a bunch of the special criminals like myself to try and make friends with them. Apparently, some of the doctors believe in THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP! As if putting criminals in the same room with other criminals will make them do less criminal activities. Sure, I've made some friends: Red, Eddy, Arnold, Croc, Jervis, and I already knew Mr. Crane from Gotham University, (Two-Face doesn't seem to like me, though. As for Harvey? I dunno.) but besides Red, I didn't really change anybody just by palling with them.

Don't think I'm complaining about hanging out with my friends, it's just that I find it strange how I'm kinda like a link that connects people who normally don't like each other together. I wish everyone who's considered a Rogue would be like a dysfunctional family or something, but the most unity we have is basically: "Oh, you don't like Batman or the police? Cool, I don't like them either!" The enemy of my enemy is my friend, I guess. By the way, who came up with the term Rogues Gallery for anyone who regularly fights a "superhero?" People who break the law without giving something back doesn't seem very rogue-ish to me, but, what do I know?

Let's see, on the subject of Rogues... right now Eddy, Jervis, Two-Face, Red(who I got to visit again yesterday), and a few others nobody cares about are here in Arkham, besides Mr. J and myself, of course. It was so funny talking to Red yesterday: she was throwing a temper tantrum because she wanted to attack this socialite who made some nasty comments about the environment, but when she broke into the mansion, some relative of his had to tell her that he died a month ago! She was mad at me because I neglected to tell her I already knew the guy was dead.

I told her: what she needs to take away from this embarrassment is that she should actually read or watch the news. You don't get everything by word of mouth outside of Arkham. Really, news spreads pretty fast in Arkham. Usually, if it's important, Riddler will tell us the goings-on, but Cavendish and Adams talk to each other so much about news they should run a gossip column. Speaking of doctors, I had my session with Dr. Leland today, and I noticed she was acting a little...off, somehow. I can't really fully explain it, but it's been gnawing at my mind for a few hours, and I don't know what to make of it. Here's how it went down:

I was being honest with her about how my relationship with Mr. J was doing a lot better, and that I wanted to see him more often, not to talk about our next escape, but just to talk to him. Normally, Dr. Leland makes excuses about why Mr. J can't see me or leave solitary confinement, so imagine my shock when she admitted to agreeing with me! Well, she said she wasn't completely sure about our relationship, but, the way she saw it, no matter what cell Mr. J gets put in, he always breaks out anyway so why should it matter? And then Dr. Leland said something else that I think she didn't mean to say, but I couldn't hear what it was.

What I noticed most of all was that Dr. Leland looked exhausted. Yeah, I'm sure the job is tiring, but I mean a different type of exhaustion. Dr. Leland has been working here longer than most of the staff that I'm aware of along with administrator Jeremiah Arkham. Nearly every other doctor, therapist, head of security, etc. has either quit, died by suicide or murder, or gone off to do better things. (I am, of course, referring to Hugo Strange, Jonathan Crane, myself, and a few others.) Actually, Cavendish and Adams have hung on for a surprisingly long time, but I think those guys are special.

Can it be that Dr. Leland just can't take the stress of her job anymore and is deciding to retire? I can see now that she looks older than she should at her age. I've seen Cavendish and Adams give her a lot of dirty looks for as long as they've worked there; if Dr. Leland were calling it quits, I bet those two would have something to do with it. Of course, maybe I'm just reading into things that aren't there (again!). I don't know, maybe there's something about being in Arkham that heightens your perception? What's really confusing me is why I'm feeling so conflicted right now.

Shouldn't I be glad if Dr. Leland goes? I know Mr. J would be absolutely happy to see another doctor bite the dust. It must be that I knew her before I met _him._ I guess I have her to thank for bringing us together, even if she didn't mean to do it. Hm, I don't think that's it. I might as well sleep on it for now; tomorrow, I'll ask Eddy if he knows if anything's going on.


	4. Entry 4: More Shame on the Family Name

**4/7**

I was right: something _is_ going on, but it definitely isn't what I was expecting, and I feel both excited and relived about it at the same time. Like I said last night, at breakfast I decided to see Eddy and ask him if he knew about anything happening in Arkham. He said that he didn't know, but he figured something was up because the staff were acting like they were in a hurry to do something. Eddy leaned over to me and he said very quietly that Administrator Arkham hasn't been seen since April Fools Day, and the staff won't give him an explanation for where he is.

Very stupidly, I blurted out without thinking that Arkham might be feeling sick, and Eddy smiled at me and said: "He might be." When it dawned on me what he meant, I laughed so hard I literally fell to the ground! And then, Eddy said he heard from Dr. Adams that Scarecrow is back in the asylum because he apparently turned himself in to the cops sometime yesterday. As usual, when good ole' Jervis heard Eddy mention Mr. Crane, he started bouncing around the cafeteria like a giddy schoolgirl.

We figured whatever was going on was probably already in the news, but the staff at Arkham were trying to keep their mouths shut about it so we wouldn't find out what was going on; at least they were doing a decent job at keeping something from us, for once. We had to wait to talk to Mr. Crane to find out what was going on outside, but he didn't show up in the rec room until an hour before it was time for all the inmates to return to their cells. Me, Eddy, and Jervis went over to see him and we picked a corner where we could sit and chat. Even Two-Face looked at us like he wanted to be part of the conversation.

There were some guards looking at us with suspicion, but they didn't do a thing to stop us from talking; the staff must have given up on trying to prevent the truth from spreading at that point. In one sentence, Mr. Crane told us that on April Fool's Day, something had happened that will change EVERYTHING... Oh man, I'm so excited I'm sweating like crazy right now and I probably won't be able to sleep but I don't care... April Fool's, Jeremiah Arkham had a nervous breakdown so bad that not only was he taken to the hospital, but, unless he makes a miraculous recovery, he'll most likely have to be brought in here as a patient.

Mr. Crane didn't even _try_ to be discreet while telling us (he almost shouted), so all the inmates in the room went wild! The guards almost immediately stormed in and dragged our group away from the room and back to our cells. I, for one, was kicking and screaming at them to let us go so we could hear the rest of the story. The other people in the room weren't even rioting, they were just shocked at what they heard and wanted to know what was going on.

You know when you're in the middle of something that will change history; if the history of the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane were written in a book, whatever happened to the administrator would take up a whole chapter. I don't know how things are gonna go from here, but I'm sure we'll find out very soon. Yeah, I need some answers _very_ soon. My head is still spinning; yesterday I had Dr. Leland on my mind, but tonight all I can think of are the whats, hows and whys about Jeremiah Arkham. The question that stands out most of all is: Is this breakdown a new thing, or is this part of something that's been going on for a while, and the doctors wanted to keep it under wraps until it got out of control?

I remember speaking to Arkham while I was working here, and I certainly saw him talk to other doctors afterwards, and he never struck me as the type of guy who was hiding a secret mental illness. Did I think he had something under that stoic facade of his? Of course I did, by now you just accept that there are no well-adjusted people in here. Until now, Arkham came across as a guy who fought hard to keep everything running no matter the opposition; I don't think he fought because he was passionate about his work, but because he would be seen as a failure if he let the family business slip through his fingers.

Because of him, the asylum still stands today, even if on a shaky foundation. Maybe the pressure finally caught up to him, even though nothing exciting has happened here recently, it might've taken a few quiet days for him to realize what a total failure he was the whole time and snapped, having nothing to distract him from the truth. That's what I think so far, but there's no point in coming to a solid conclusion when I don't know a lot of the facts.

Another thing I'm wondering is how Scarecrow fits into all this. Mr. Crane never actually _said_ that _he_ was the cause of the administrator's breakdown, but it's possible he didn't get to that part of the story yet; if he did cause the breakdown, did he turn himself in as part of some bigger scheme? These questions are just _killing_ me right now! With the commotion that happened in the rec room, I'm almost sure we won't get to see Mr. Crane for a few days, and he'll probably be questioned by the police (not to mention B-Man) if he hasn't been already.

I guess we'll have to play the waiting game on this one. I just hope that someone tells Mr. J and Red about the wonderful news...


	5. Entry 5: Questioning

**4/9**

B-Man and Commissioner Gordon stopped at Arkham today, no doubt investigating what happened to the administrator; I guess his breakdown was a little too out of left field for them to ignore. They even dropped by my cell to question me! They asked me about what Mr. J and I were doing on April 1st, and that _really_ ticked me off. I told B-Man straight to his face that he should know by now that there's never anything deep in our April Fool's Day gags, and I asked them how we could've went to Arkham's house _and_ pulled off our gag in one night, since Jeremiah Arkham lived far away from where the retired cop's house was, without any means of transportation.

They just stared at me for a couple of seconds, but after asking me how much I knew about what happened to Arkham (very little) they left my cell without pressing the matter further. I think they were in my cell for about ten minutes, tops. I could hear them walking away, and I swear it sounded like they were headed in the direction of Mr. J's cell. I hope someone tells him what's going on, because it'd definitely give him a good laugh.

So, if B-Man and the others felt they had to question me, does that mean Scarecrow didn't cause Arkham's breakdown? It would seem like he's the most likely person to have done it; the higher-ups in the asylum are Mr. Crane's favorite targets for "testing" his fear toxin, since he has a particular bone to pick with them. His first victim as the Scarecrow was a guy named Dr. Wolper, and I guess the two had different ideas on how to treat the patients here, so Mr. Crane decided to get back at him.

It would only make sense that eventually Mr. Crane would finally go after the head honcho with a toxin strong enough to have permanent effects on the mind. Oh, here I go speculating again when I barely know anything! I can't help it, I'm just _dying_ to know what's going on, that's all! Nobody's seen Mr. Crane outside of his cell yet, but maybe if the police have finally stopped questioning him, we'll see him real soon...


	6. Entry 6: Scarecrow - Master of Vagueness

**4/10**

Finally, finally, finally Mr. Crane was allowed out of his cell, and during lunch the same people grouped together again to hear him explain what the heck was going on. Yet, even though we waited days to hear the whole story, I left the cafeteria feeling kinda...disappointed, and I think the others left with the same feeling. I should've kept in mind that Mr. Crane would just say what he wanted to say, and nothing more, even if there's holes in what he says. Basically, he barely answered any of our questions.

Pretty much the only thing Mr. Crane made absolutely clear was that he did _not_ cause Jeremiah Arkham's breakdown, but when he heard about it in the news, he willingly turned himself in to the GCPD. Out of nowhere Two-Face screamed at him exactly what the rest of us were probably thinking: _Why on Earth would he do that?_ The answer Mr. Crane gave was something like: He figured the detectives would be looking for a more complex reason for the breakdown than "He just lost his marbles one day", so he would gladly take the blame for what happened; but, he said Batman and the cops weren't buying it at all and they stopped questioning him.

The last thing he said was that although the breakdown happened seemingly out of nowhere, it's also likely what happened to the administrator wasn't caused by any outsider and things like that happen to people when you least expect it. Two-Face, Eddy and I just kinda stared, not knowing what to say, so Mr. Crane took Jervis and left us. Typical. At least _Eddy_ doesn't speak in riddles when he's out of his costume (actually, that's not true at all.) Heh, I'm 100% sure Eddy's gonna be up all night puzzling over what Mr. Crane said, since he's so predictable about that.

I don't blame the others for being lost for words, since I'm having a hard time understanding what I've just written. Mr. Crane said that there might not've been someone behind Arkham's breakdown, but it felt like he also implied that there _might_ have been. Or he was just saying he has no more of a clue about what's going on than we do, in true Crane fashion. Still, his reason for turning himself in seemed pretty flimsy to me. Mr. Crane has this tendency to drop back in here for no reason; whereas Mr. J and I willingly come back to relax, Mr. Crane seems to come back because he feels that he _has to,_ even though, from just talking to him, I can tell he doesn't want to.

I guess that makes sense, considering he worked here after Gotham University, and he probably doesn't want to admit that he needs the asylum in some way, so he'll make excuses for why he comes back. Seriously though, before my brain overheats from thinking about things too much, I have to accept that Mr. Crane is incapable of giving a straight answer for anything. A long while back, I asked Mr. Crane why he became the Scarecrow, and all he said was: "Arkham Asylum changes you." Real help there, Captain Obvious.

Really, none of us inmates should give a damn about Arkham's business... but we just can't help it. Speaking of business, there's been no word on who's gonna replace Jeremiah as the administrator, since apparently he was the last of the Arkham bloodline (and no word on where Jeremiah himself is gonna end up, for that matter), but I'm betting that it'll be Dr. Cavendish: I noticed he was kind of brown-nosing J Arkham for a while.


	7. Entry 7: The New Guy

**4/12**

Well, looks like I was wrong about Cavendish becoming the new administrator: I guess he might've been too young to take Jeremiah's place. (If Dr. Strange were still here, though, I think he'd have replaced Arkham) This morning, we all got to look at this guy we've never seen before walking around the halls, and his name is Sharp. The doctors also called him "Warden" a few times, and that makes me wonder if that's his first name or the title "Administrator" isn't being used anymore.

Eddy told me Sharp was a failed politician, and he tried and failed to get elected as mayor. Based on first impressions, this guy looks like the comically serious type (which is also how I would describe Jeremiah Arkham!), and there was just something about him that none of us could take seriously; Two-Face started betting with...uh, himself, I think, how long Sharp will last here: Harvey said six months, Two-Face said two months.

At one point, I saw Cavendish walking around with Sharp, showing him around, and he looked like he just lost a loved one. I wanted to shout at him: "Don't worry, Doc, you'll get your chance someday!" No joke, I think he's crazy enough to actually be able to run the asylum! While I'm thinking about the doctors, I thought I was supposed to have a session with Dr. Leland today, but I can't keep track of my schedule here, it's always changing around even without me running off.

I got to see Red today, and I brought her up to speed with what was going on, but I don't think she really cared. Arkham business is human business, and if they're not talking about nature, it's nothing of interest to her. I've had no comment on what Mr. Crane thinks about 'Warden' Sharp, however. Now I'm wondering what B-Man will think about this new guy. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if B-Man recommended Sharp to the staff here, he's almost as much of an employee of Arkham Asylum as he is of GCPD. (I can't believe B-Man still thinks he's above the law at this point!)

I doubt Sharp will make much of a lasting impact on this place, and I can't help but feel underwhelmed by him. He seems too much of an average guy to completely overhaul everything, and having the title of Warden isn't gonna change that. I mean, like I said earlier, the asylum is pretty much a prison now anyway, so it's not a shock that the higher ups would finally see that this isn't the place suitable for a patient's recovery. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Things will probably settle down now, and since I'm sure no one is reading this, I don't feel paranoid about writing how I'm getting bored and I should start making plans for escape soon; that, or wait for Mr. J to make the first move. It's been almost two weeks, and Puddin' usually gets bored about two weeks in.


	8. Entry 8: Best Wishes

**4/14**

I can't believe it. I was almost right about Dr. Leland, except she didn't quit, she was _fired!_ This morning, I was escorted to the same room where my sessions are, like normal, but instead of Dr. Leland, it was Dr. Adams who was there! I asked her where Dr. Leland was, and she told me that Leland had been disagreeing with the other doctors for a long time, and now without J Arkham to back her up, the management decided to let her go.

After that, I gotta admit, I just pouted and acted pretty immature, so Dr. Adams ended the session early. Maybe I would've handled myself better if I got anyone else besides Dr. Adams as a replacement; seriously, she's the knucklehead who says Mr. J has something like Tourette's Syndrome! I'm not gonna lie, I think I'm seriously gonna miss Dr. Leland (not that Mr. J will miss her, though).

At dinner, Arnold must've noticed I was looking all glum (B-Man dropped him and Scarface off yesterday), and like the good friend he is, he asked me what was up. I tried to tell him what happened to Leland real quietly because I didn't want Mr. Crane to hear, but wouldn't you know it, he snuck up on us 'cause I guess we were just acting too conspicuous! Mr. Crane must've heard what I said, because he made that face he makes whenever he's _really_ mad about something before storming out of the cafeteria (it's that kind of face someone makes when they're on the verge of exploding into rage).

Dr. Leland was pretty much the only therapist here Mr. Crane respected since she was actually competent at her line of work, by Arkham standards, anyway. As for me, besides all that she did for me, Leland treated me like I was still her friend even after everything I did, and I always knew she was genuine. Maybe she was naive for trying so hard to reform us criminals, but you gotta give her credit for that when everyone else just wants to throw us in a place where society doesn't have to worry about us for a few weeks. I don't think it was just Mr. Crane and I who held her in a higher regard; I've heard Eddy, Two-Face, Jervis, and a few others say good things about her.

So, I don't feel ashamed in being glad that it looks like Joan got spared from whatever it is in Arkham Asylum that kind of... how should I put it, turns your whole world upside down? It would've been a real shame if Joan ended up losing her mind, because I don't think she would've been able to make something positive out of it like I have; or worse, she could've ended up being killed somehow. I hope Joan can find a place where she's appreciated by her fellow psychiatrists and she can apply her knowledge, and she can even help people. I wish her luck.

Maybe I'll find the specific people who fired her and seek vengeance for getting rid of the best therapist Arkham Asylum had. Yeah... sweet revenge, that sounds like a good idea to me.


	9. Entry 9: The Screaming Inmate

**4/15...maybe /16?**

Geez, that guy down the hall started screaming his head off again and it woke me up. I don't know who he is, but every once in a while he'll just wail and scream bloody murder in the middle of the night, and sometimes you can hear him banging on his cell door; I guess he suffers from really bad nightmares or something because I never hear anyone that sounds like him during the daytime. Needless to say, it never fails to wake me up when he does that.

The orderlies used to rush down to wherever he is and presumably sedate him so he'd shut up, but for _some_ reason nowadays they just leave him be. I'd be more angry at "Screaming Inmate" for ruining my sleep yet again, but he's probably got some kind of tragic reason for his chronic nightmares, so I won't press it. I'd ask somebody if they know who he is, but it's possible he's somebody I actually know, so I'll respect his privacy. What someone _should_ do is at least make his cell more sound-proof so the rest of us in this hall can actually sleep through it.

I'm pretty much wide awake now; oh well, I hadn't completely dozed off yet, tonight (and last night) I spent a while thinking over all the stuff that's happened recently. While I'm waiting for Screaming Inmate to quiet down, I'll just write about what's coming up in the future here. ...Hm, I guess I'm still a little foggy in the head because I'm having trouble remembering what it was that's apparently gonna happen, something kinda important...

Oh, I remember now. I've heard that Warden Sharp wants to renovate the asylum in some way, but it's funny to me because Jeremiah already renovated Arkham about five years ago! Well, less renovated and more expanded since most of what J Arkham changed was just adding some more cells, including building the special cells for Red, Bane, and Clayface to accommodate their different needs, not that _those_ cells help much, though.

If the staff were considerate enough to ask us inmates what we want to see changed, I would say that they should definitely update the plumbing. I bet the plumbing hasn't been changed since the sixties because whenever I use the shower, the water smells _awful!_ I seriously hope there's not something in the pipes that's contaminating the water and that it's just Killer Croc messing around in the underground system; actually, if it's the second thing, I don't wanna _know_ what he does down there! Ugh, good thing I've built up a strong stomach after dealing with stuff even worse than the possibilities of what Croc does while he's under Arkham.

Well, I haven't heard anything coming out of Screaming Inmate's mouth for a little while as I'm writing this, so I guess the coast is clear; it's a good thing that his outbursts are over pretty quickly, I've heard some other inmates go on for hours at a time, but the problem is just that he's louder than those guys. I'll try to settle down and go to sleep now...


End file.
